Combined supporting rack and counterbalance for dishwasher



A. L. HARDY April 2, 1968 COMBINED SUPPORTING BACK AND COUNTERBALANCEFOR DISHWASHER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 12, 1966 F'EGE INVENTOR.ALBERT L. HARDY April 2, 1968 A. 1.. HARDY COMBINED SUPPORTING BACK ANDCOUNTERBALANCE FOR DISHWASHER 2 Sheets-Sheet Filed Sept. 12, 1966 w 5 3a la m 3 F m a 5 yo A F M @MW P o nHH N 3 4 3 """ALfiu fl""%fi HHHHW nll" 3 H F a M n BY Hxs ATTORNEY Unite Patented Apr. 2, 1968 3,376,087CGMBHNED SUPPORTING RACK AND COUN- TERBALANCE FOR DISHWASHER Albert L.Hardy, Louisville, Ky., assignor to General Electric Company, acorporation of New York Filed Sept. 12, 1966, Ser. No. 578,634 7 9Claims. (Cl. 312269) This invention relates generally to supportingracks and, more particularly, to a combined supporting rack andcounterbalance for use in a dishwasher.

Important characteristics of automatic dishwashers include capacity,i.e., the number of articles which the dishwasher will contain andadequately wash, and ease of access, i.e., the ease with which articlesmay be inserted into and removed from the supporting racks. Recentdevelopments have brought into the market place dishwashers havingmovable sectional racks to improve ease of access without sacrificingcapacity. One example is the structure described and claimed in US.Patent No. 3,087,769, issued on Apr. 30, 1963, to L. W. Guth andassigned to the General Electric Company, assignee of the presentinvention. Since the access problem is especially acute in top-openingdishwashers, the structure taught by Guth has met with significantcommercial success. Similarly, an improved rack system employing twomovable racks in a top-opening dishwasher has met with commercialsuccess. Such system is described and claimed in application Ser. No.442,953, filed Mar. 26, 1965, now Patent No. 3,322,479 by D. E. Paytonand W. S. Pattison, which is assigned to the assignee of the presentinvention.

Although such rack systems, and others involving movable rack sections,contribute greatly to ease of access without sacrifice of capacity, theydo create a problem. A fully loaded rack system such as that inapplication Ser. No. 442,953, new Patent No. 3,322,479 may weigh inexcess of fifteen pounds. When the rack system is associated with thedishwasher cover, a petite housewife is required to lift not only thefifteen pounds but also the weight of the cover as she opens the cover.Counterbalance springs may be associated with the door to assist inlifting this weight but the spring force must be transmitted to theracks through the door which usually provides an unfavorable mechanicalrelationship requiring the use of exceptionally strong springs. Ifconventional coil springs areassociated directly with the racks tominimize transmission through the door, or in cases where the racksystem is not moved with the cover, food soils from the articles beingwashed may collect in the springs creating a problem.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a combinedsupporting rack and counterbalance means particularly useful with anautomatic dishwasher.

Other objects will become evident as the description proceeds.

Briefly stated, in accordance with one aspect of the present invention,there is provided a structure comprising a cabinet and at least onesupporting rack adapted to receive and support articles thereon. Meanspivotally support the rack from the cabinet for movement relative to thecabinet. An elongated torsion bar is provided and has one end rigidlyconnected to the rack and the other end rigidly connected to the meanssupporting the rack from the cabinet. With this arrangement, the torsionbar is twisted as the rack moves downwardly, thus storing energy to bereleased Whenever the rack is moved upwardly. 7

While the specification concludes with claims particularly pointing outand distinctly claiming the subject matter which is regarded as theinvention, it is believed the invention will be better understood fromthe following description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view, partially cut away toshow details, ofan automatic dishwasher employing the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary view similar to FIGURE 1 but showing thecombined supporting rack and counter-balance means of the presentinvention in a different position; and,

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary view taken along line 33 of FIGURE 2.

Referring now to the drawings, and initially to FIG- URE 1 thereof,there is illustrated a top-opening portable dishwasher 10. Dishwasher 10includes an outer cabinet 11 having therein a wash chamber 12. Outercabinet 11- has four interconnected vertical side walls and an open topand bottom. The open top serves as an access opening for the admissionof articles to, and removal of articles from, wash chamber 12. Thisaccess opening is provided with a closure member or door 13 pivotallysecured to one wall of cabinet 11 by a plurality of hinge members 14,only one of which is visible in FIGURE 1. The lower extremity of washchamber 12 is defined by a bottom wall 15, the periphery of which is inliquidtight relationship to the four vertical walls of cabinet 11.Bottom wall 15 has a centrally depressed portion forming a sump 16 inwhich liquid will collect. Disposed within sump 16 and supported bybottom wall 15 is a motor-pump assembly 17 which includes an electricaldrive motor 18 and a pump 19. Mounted for rotation at the top of pump 19is a reaction type spray arm 20 which etfectuates a wash action withinwash chamber 12 by vigorously spraying wash fluid upwardly therein.

Means are provided within wash chamber 12 to support the articles ordishes to be washed in a manner whereby the wash action generated byspray arm 20 will effectuate cleansing of the articles. This meansincludes a lower dish-supporting rack (not shown) disposed immediatelyabove spray arm 20 and consuming substantially the entire horizontalcross-sctional area of wash chamber 12 and an upper dish-supporting racksystem which will be described in substantial detail. For the purposesof the present invention, the lower rack (not shown) may be assumed tobe entirely conventional in form and of the type commonly employed in atopopening dishwasher.

The upper rack system comprises a front bracket 21 rigidly secured todoor 13 and depending down into wash chamber 12 when door 13 is closed.A rear bracket 22 is similarly rigidly secured to door 13 and dependsdown into wash chamber 12 when door 13 is closed. The terms front andrear described the relationship of the brackets to each other withrespect to the front and rear of the dishwasher 10. Rear bracket 22 isdisposed closer to hinge member 14 than is bracket 21. In the preferredform of the upper rack system, there is a pair of front brackets and 'apair of rear brackets; however, the second bracket of each pair ishidden in FIGURES 1 and 2 since, in each case, the second bracket isdisposed directly behind the visible bracket as viewed in those figures.However, in FIGURE 3 the second front bracket 23 is visible.

A front supporting rack 24 is pivotally carried by bracket '21 by meansof a pin 25 and a clip 26. Although the precise means for pivotallymounting rack 24 to bracket 21 is not critical to the present invention,it is to be understood that the arrangement illustrated in FIGURE 1 hasclip 26 secured to rack member 24 with pin 25 establishing a pivotalrelationship between clip 26 and bracket 21. Similarly, a rearsupporting rack 27 'is pivotally carried by bracket 22 through meansincluding a pin 28 and a clip 29.

The upper rack system further includes means to pivotally support racks24 and 27 from cabinet 11 for movement relative to the cabinet. Thismeans may comprise an arm 30 pivotally secured at one end to a wall ofcabinet 11 by means of a clip 31 and a pin 32. Pin 32 may extend throughthe wall of cabinet 11 'and has a pivotal relationship with clip 31which in turn is rigidly secured to arm 30. Arm 30 is also pivotallysecured to rack 27 by means of a pair ofclips 33 and 34 which arepivotally inter-connected. It is to be understood that clip 33 issubstantially rigid with rack 27 while clip 34 is subst'antially rigidwith arm 30. In the preferred embodiment, arm 30 extends beyond clip 34to pivotally engage rack 24. This last-mentioned pivotal engagement isachieved by means of a pair of clips 35 and 36 which are pivotallyinterconnected in a manner similar to the relationship between clips 33and 34.

With the above-described upper rack system, the individual elements ofthe system will assume the relationship illustrated in FIGURE 2 asclosure member 13 is pivoted from its substantially horizontal closedposition to its substantially vertical open position. By comparingFIGURES l and 2, it can be seen that, along with the substantialdisplacement of rack 24 up and out of the wash chamber 12, rack member27 also undergoes substantial displacement upwardly to providesignificantly better access to the lower rear portion of wash chamber 12for insertion of articles into, and removal of articles from, the lowerrack.

As mentioned above, a fully loaded rack system, such as that justdescribed, may weigh in excess of fifteen pounds. When the rack systemis associated with the dishwasher door, as it is in the embodimentillustrated in the figures, a petite housewife may have difiiculty inlifting the door as well as the loaded racks unless relatively strongcounterbalance springs are provided. Heretofore, in a system such asthat illustrated in the figures, coil springs are contained within hingemembers 14 to counterbalance the weight of the door and the rack system.The spring force necessary to substantially relieve the housewife of theweight to be lifted, must be transmitted through the door, which resultsin an unfavorable lever arrangement or, in the case where coil springsare directly associated with the racks, rather than the hinge member,food soil from the articles being washed collect in the springs creatinga problem.

In accordance with the present invention, a combined supporting rack andcounterbalance means is provided which overcomes the aforementionedproblems. There is provided an elongated torsion bar 37 having one endrigidly connected to rack 24 and the other end rigidly connected to an.arm 38 which is identical in all respects to arm 30. Similarly, anelongated torsion bar 39 is provided and has one end rigidly connectedto rack 24 and the other end rigidly connected to arm 30. As illustratedin FIGURES 1 and 2, the end of torsion bar 39 which is secured to arm30, may be bent over to lay against the surface of clip 36 so that therigid connection between clip 36 and torsion bar 39 may be convenientlyeffected by welding the two elements together. Similarly, torsion bar 37hasits end, which is connected to clip 35, slightly upset to provide anenlarged area which may be conveniently welded to clip 35. It is to beunderstood of course that the particular means for rigidly connectingthe ends of the torsion bars to their respective elements is notcritical to the present invention and suitable means other than weldingmay be employed.

If desired, instead of or in addition to torsion bars 37 and 39,elongated torsion bars 40 and 41 may be provided in association withrack 27 in a manner identical to that discussed 'above with regard totorsion bars 37 and 39.

A comparison of FIGURES 1 and 2 will reveal the existence of relativemovement between arm 30 and each of racks 24 and 27 of approximately 90as the combined supporting rack and counterbalance means moves from thecondition illustrated in FIGURE 1 to the condition illustrated in FIGURE2. Thus, each of the torsion bars 37, 39, 40 and 41 is twisted duringmovement of the racks. During assembly of the system, the torsion barswould be assembled to the rack and arms such that when the system is inthe condition illustrated in FIGURE 2, the torsion bars would besubstantially relaxed and, as the racks move to the conditionillustrated in FIGURE 1, the torsion bars would be twisted thus storingtorsional energy to be released at such time as the system moves fromthe condition of FIGURE 1 to the condition of FIGURE 2.

It should be recognized that the present invention is not necessarilylimited to an arrangement wherein racks 24 and 27 are supported fromdoor 13 but may, in fact, be utilized in an arrangement wherein racks 24and 27 are independently supported from cabinet 11. With sucharrangement, door 13 would be opened and then. one or both of themovable racks would be grasped by the operator and subsequently moved toa position substantially identical with that illustrated in FIGURE 2. Insuch an arrangement, additional linkage would be nec essary to controlthe tipping of baskets 24 and 27 as it is now controlled by brackets 21.and 22. Moreover, it should be recognized that, depending upon thespring constant of the individual torsion bars employed and the weightto be supported by racks 24 and 27, less than four torsion bars may beemployed and it is within the sp rit of the present invention to employonly a single torsion bar if such would prove suflicient tocounterbalance the weight carried by racks 24 'and 27.

As illustrated in the figures, the (torsion bars may serve as connectingmeans to pivotally interconnect the racks 24 and 27 with the arms 30 and38. For example, clips 35 and 36 have aligned openings through whichtorsion bar 39 extends. Torsion bar 39 is rigidly secured to clip 36 butclip 35 is free to pivot relative to torsion bar 39.

Thus, it can be seen. that the present invention provides a combinedsupporting rack and counterbalance means particularly useful with anautomatic dishwasher. The present invention applies the counterbalanceforce directly to the individual supporting rack rather thantransmitting it from the hinge member through the door. This is achievedby positioning the counterbalance means within the wash chamber of thedishwasher; however, inasmuch as conventional coil springs are obviated,the collection of food particles inherent with the use of coil springswithin a dishwasher wash chamber is precluded.

As will be evident from the foregoing description, certain aspects ofthe invention are not limited to the particular details of constructionof the example illustrated, and it is contemplated that various othermodifications or applications will occur to those skilled in the ant. Itis therefore intended that the appended claims shall cover suchmodifications and applications as do not depart from the true spirit andscope of the invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

1. A structure comprising:

(a) a cabinet,

(b) at least one supporting rack adapted to receive and support articlesthereon,

(c) means pivotally supporting said rack from said cabinet for movementrelative to said cabinet, and

(d) an elongated torsion bar having one end rigidly connected to saidrack and the other end rigidly connected to said means.

2. A structure comprising:

(a) a cabinet having an access opening therein,

(b) a closure member pivotally carried by said cabinet to close saidaccess opening and movable between a closed position and an openposition, 7 (e) at least one rack carried by said closure member formovement therewith,

((1) means interconnecting said rack and said cabinet to control themovement of said rack as said closure member is moved, and

(e) an elongated torsion bar having one end rigidly connected to saidrack and the other end rigidly connected to said means.

3. The invention of claim 2 wherein said means interconnecting said rackand said cabinet comprises a first arm pivotally connected at one end tosaid cabinet and pivotally connected at its other end to said rack, anda second arm spaced from said first arm and pivotally connected at oneend to said cabinet and pivotally connected at its other end to saidrack.

4. The invention of claim 3 wherein said torsion bar is connected tosaid rack adjacent said first arm and connected at its other end to saidsecond arm.

5. The invention of claim 4 further comprising a second torsion barconnected at one end to said rack adjacent said second arm and connectedat its other end to said first arm.

6. A structure comprising:

(a) a cabinet having an access opening therein,

(b) a closure member pivotally carried by said cabinet to close saidaccess opening and movable between a closed position and an openposition,

(0) two racks carried by said closure member for movement therewith,

(d) means interconnecting said racks and said cabinet to control themovement of said racks as said closure member is moved,

(e) a first elongated torsion bar having one end rigidly connected !toone of said racks and the other end rigidly connected to said means, and

(f) a second elongated torsion bar having one end rigidly connected tothe other of said racks and the other end rigidly connected to saidmeans.

7. The invention of claim 6 wherein said means interconnecting said pairof racks and said cabinet comprises a first arm pivotally connected atone end to said cabinet and pivotally connected to each of said racks,and a second arm spaced from said first arm and pivotally connected atone end to said cabinet and pivotally connected to each of said racks.

8. The invention of claim 7 wherein said other end of said first torsionbar is connected .to said first arm and said other end of said secondtorsion bar is connected to said second arm.

9. A structure comprising:

(a) a cabinet having an open top,

(b) a closure member for said open top pivotal between a substantiallyhorizontal closed position and a substantially vertical open position,

(0) at least one rack carried by said closure member for movementtherewith,

(d) at least one arm pivotally connected at one end to said cabinet andat the other end to said rack to control the movement of said rack assaid closure member is moved, and

(e) an elongated torsion bar having one end rigidly connected to saidrack and the other end rigidly connected to said arm.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,799,550 7/1957 Rataiczak 3123193,027,217 3/1962 Dutcher 312-276 3,195,969 7/1965 Wallen 312-2693,322,479 5/1967 Payton et al. 312-269 JAMES T. MCCALL, PrimaryExaminer.

1. A STRUCTURE COMPRISING: (A) A CABINET, (B) AT LEAST ONE SUPPORTINGRACK ADAPTED TO RECEIVE AND SUPPORT ARTICLES THEREON, (C) MEANSPIVOTALLY SUPPORTING SAID RACK FROM SAID CABINET FOR MOVEMENT RELATIVETO SAID CABINET, AND (D) AN ELONGATED TORSION BAR HAVING ONE END RIGIDLYCONNECTED TO SAID RACK AND THE OTHER END RIGIDLY CONNECTED TO SAIDMEANS.